Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Iron Tree Blossoms”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Melos recounts the tragic history of Chen Cheng’s ancestor, the first emperor, and Xifeiya, an Elf heroine.
• Xifeiya supposedly died from heartbreak, while the young man rose to become one of the world’s strongest figures and led his people in rebellion against the Beastmen.
• After learning of Xifeiya’s death, he mourned beneath the World Tree for a month. The Elf Grand Elder—once an opponent of their relationship—gave him Xifeiya’s belongings and revealed that her soul had been accepted by the Moon Goddess rather than destroyed.
• The young man recovered from his despair, flew to the World Tree’s crown, and made a thousand-year agreement with the Elves: Xifeiya would reincarnate as an Elf Saintess, and he would return to help save the Elves from their crisis and lift their ancient bloodline curse.
• He later conquered large territories from the Beastmen and eventually died in old age. The Elves only fully understood the meaning of his promise afterward.
• In the present, Chen Cheng questions the overly melodramatic story and suspects the Elves may have altered or romanticized the truth.
• Melos clarifies that the agreement concerns more than reincarnating Xifeiya as Chen Cheng’s wife: it also requires him to cure the Elf race’s fertility and bloodline curse.

Character Developments

• The young man/first emperor: Shown as deeply devoted to Xifeiya, devastated by her death, and ultimately driven to fulfill a long-term promise while building a great empire. Chen Cheng doubts the romanticized version because the ancestor later married and had many children.
• Xifeiya: Presented as a tragic heroine whose love supposedly moved the Moon Goddess and allowed her soul to survive for reincarnation.
• Melos: Reveals strong emotional attachment to the legendary love story, becoming tearful and defensive when Samlet dismisses it. Her seriousness at the end shows that the ancient agreement has real political and racial consequences.
• Chen Cheng: Remains skeptical and humorous, recognizing the tale’s clichés while carefully avoiding uncovering embarrassing details about his ancestor. He begins to understand that he has inherited a major responsibility.
• Samlet: Bluntly challenges the official Elf version of events. His interaction with Melos reveals an unexpectedly vulnerable or flustered side beneath his usual stoicism.
• Zhulu: Quietly observes the exchange and is fascinated by Samlet’s unusual behavior, reinforcing his status as Samlet’s devoted admirer.

Significant Themes

• Romantic myth versus historical truth: The story may be a deliberately beautified version of complicated events, shaped to protect reputations and preserve political arrangements.
• Inherited responsibility: Chen Cheng must fulfill a promise made by his ancestor a thousand years earlier.
• Love, grief, and legacy: The ancestor’s relationship with Xifeiya becomes the foundation for an enduring alliance between humans and Elves.
• Political use of legend: The Elves may have created or maintained the tragic romance to preserve their dignity, protect their women’s reputation, and justify their reliance on Chen Cheng’s lineage.
• Curse and survival: The agreement is tied to the Elf race’s declining birth rate and the need to lift a bloodline curse threatening their future.

Important Character Interactions

• Melos and Chen Cheng: Melos tells Chen Cheng the ancestral love story, while he responds skeptically and jokes about being expected to marry Xifeiya’s reincarnation.
• Melos and Samlet: Samlet mocks the tale as fabricated, causing Melos to glare at him emotionally. His reaction embarrasses her and reveals unusual tension between them.
• Samlet and Zhulu: Zhulu notices that Samlet behaves differently around Melos, suggesting a possible hidden relationship or emotional attachment.
• Chen Cheng and Melos: Their conversation shifts from romantic legend to serious political obligation when Melos explains that Chen Cheng must also resolve the Elves’ ancient bloodline curse.

Summary: “Deeper Entanglements”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng rejects Melos’s proposal to renew an ancient marriage agreement, arguing that the original contract was made a thousand years ago and that no surviving contract or betrothal gifts remain.
• He references an old tragic love story in which the Elf ancestors separated two lovers to prevent disaster, suggesting that reviving old romantic ties may only lead to further tragedy.
• Chen Cheng redirects the discussion toward the urgent problem facing the Elves: their declining birthrate.
• Melos explains that the popular legend of Elves growing as human-shaped fruits on the World Tree is inaccurate. Elves are flesh-and-blood beings nurtured inside fruit-like structures produced by the Tree God.
• The Tree God functions as the Elves’ “mother,” carrying and developing them externally until they are fully formed.
• Melos reveals that the Tree God has been producing fewer and fewer Life fruits. Fewer than one hundred have appeared over several decades, placing the entire Elf race at risk of eventual extinction.
• Chen Cheng reasons that the solution cannot come from magic, since the Elves already possess advanced magical technology but have been unable to solve the problem. He suspects that his own scientific knowledge may be the key.
• This realization frightens him because it suggests that his ancestor may somehow have anticipated Chen Cheng’s future transmigration and deliberately made the ancient agreement with him in mind.
• Chen Cheng identifies a crucial biological question: if Elves develop from embryos, where do those embryos originate?
• After asking Samlet and Zhulu to seal their senses so the conversation remains private, Chen Cheng awkwardly asks whether ancient Elves invited human or humanoid males to their tribe and had them leave behind reproductive material.
• Melos immediately understands his implication and reacts with embarrassment and apparent anger.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains practical and skeptical about the ancient marriage arrangement. Rather than being swept up in its romantic implications, he prioritizes the survival of the Elf race.
• His scientific perspective becomes increasingly important. He recognizes that the Elves’ reproductive process resembles advanced artificial gestation and begins searching for a biological explanation.
• Chen Cheng also shows vulnerability: the possibility that his ancestor knew about his future deeply unsettles him, and he becomes visibly embarrassed when raising the reproductive question.
• Melos initially tries to defend the ancient marriage bond but yields when Chen Cheng invokes the tragic consequences of the earlier lovers’ story.
• Her confidence fades when discussing the Elves’ population crisis. She looks to Chen Cheng as a potential savior and fears that he may have no solution.
• Melos’s reaction to Chen Cheng’s final question reveals both her understanding of reproductive matters and her discomfort at having them discussed so directly.

Significant Themes

• Duty versus romance: Chen Cheng rejects a symbolic or emotional bond in favor of addressing the Elves’ existential crisis.
• Declining population and extinction: The Elf race’s falling birthrate creates the chapter’s central conflict and gives urgency to the negotiations.
• Science versus magic: The Elves’ magical achievements have not solved their reproductive crisis, while Chen Cheng’s modern scientific knowledge may provide the answer.
• Ancient agreements and destiny: Chen Cheng wonders whether the pact made by his ancestor was part of a larger plan connected to his own arrival in this world.
• Myth versus reality: The fanciful legend of Elves growing from World Tree fruits is replaced by a more complex biological explanation.
• Embarrassment surrounding reproduction: The chapter uses humor and awkwardness as Chen Cheng and Melos confront the practical, intimate basis of Elf reproduction.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melos negotiate over the ancient marriage arrangement, with Chen Cheng firmly postponing the issue.
• Chen Cheng uses the tragic story of the separated lovers to persuade Melos not to insist on reviving the bond.
• Melos explains the Elves’ origins and reproductive crisis, while Chen Cheng listens and analyzes the process through his scientific understanding.
• Chen Cheng orders Samlet and Zhulu to seal their senses, demonstrating his authority and his desire for privacy.
• His indirect question about male visitors and reproductive material shocks Melos, creating a tense and embarrassed ending as she challenges him to explain why he would make such an accusation.

Chapter Summary: “An Unimaginable Problem”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng questions Melos about how the Elves reproduce, reasoning that the Tree God could not have created humanoid embryos without some form of male-female biological union.
• Melos explains that Elf reproduction does involve the combination of male and female “life bubbles,” but the Elves’ attempts to study or reproduce through this method have failed.
• She reveals that when she once extracted her own life bubble for an experiment, it immediately transformed into a monster, suggesting that Elf biology operates according to unusual laws.
• Chen Cheng is shocked because he had assumed the Elves followed ordinary reproductive principles. This discovery makes the problem even more confusing, since it seems impossible for the Tree God to produce mammalian embryos alone.
• Melos becomes frightened that the Elves may truly be doomed to extinction after a thousand years of failed efforts, even after seeking aid from the Moon Goddess.
• Chen Cheng cannot provide an immediate solution but promises to inspect the place where the Tree God originally created the Elves.
• Melos urgently leaves to arrange the investigation, regaining some hope.
• Afterward, Chen Cheng has Samlet remove the seals restricting the Black Dragon King and speaks with the others. Samlet leaves to assess the situation and protect himself in case the desperate Elves retaliate if Chen Cheng fails.
• Chen Cheng subtly dismisses Zhulu from the room as well, leaving himself alone with the Black Dragon King.
• The Black Dragon King resumes his arrogant attitude and warns Chen Cheng not to overestimate Samlet’s protection.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes increasingly troubled by the biological mystery. Though unable to solve it, he demonstrates responsibility by agreeing to investigate personally rather than giving Melos a hopeless answer. He also remains cautious about possible retaliation from the Elves.
• Melos: Shifts from embarrassment to despair as she explains the Elves’ failed reproductive experiments. Her emotional reaction reveals the immense pressure she bears as a representative of a dying race. Chen Cheng’s willingness to investigate restores some of her hope.
• Samlet: Shows prudence and suspicion. He worries that failure could provoke the Elves and leaves to evaluate the danger, indicating that even he no longer feels completely secure.
• Zhulu: Is portrayed as physically aged and politically opportunistic. Chen Cheng implies that Zhulu hopes to use Chen Cheng’s influence for his own cultivation advancement.
• Black Dragon King: Quickly returns to his proud, confrontational personality after being freed. He attempts to undermine Chen Cheng’s confidence in Samlet by emphasizing Samlet’s declining strength and vulnerable position.

Significant Themes

• The limits of knowledge: Both scientific reasoning and religious explanations fail to clarify the Tree God’s role in Elf reproduction.
• Hope against extinction: The Elves’ thousand-year struggle creates a desperate atmosphere, with Chen Cheng’s investigation becoming their last remaining possibility.
• Science versus mysticism: The chapter contrasts biological understanding with a world where gods and divine trees genuinely exist, making ordinary scientific assumptions unreliable.
• Power and vulnerability: Samlet’s legendary past is contrasted with his current limitations, while the Black Dragon King emphasizes that even powerful figures can be overwhelmed by enough opponents.
• Political dependence and mistrust: Several characters may be pursuing their own interests, and Chen Cheng recognizes the need to remain cautious despite temporary alliances.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melos: Their awkward conversation develops into a serious discussion of Elf biology. Melos seeks a solution, while Chen Cheng offers investigation rather than certainty.
• Chen Cheng and Samlet: Chen Cheng trusts Samlet enough to rely on him but allows him to leave and protect himself, reflecting mutual caution.
• Chen Cheng and Zhulu: Chen Cheng dismisses Zhulu from the room, apparently wishing to speak privately and avoid his influence.
• Chen Cheng and the Black Dragon King: Their exchange is tense and mocking. The Black Dragon King challenges Chen Cheng’s authority and warns him that Samlet’s protection may not be enough.
• Samlet and the Black Dragon King: Samlet’s removal of the seal restores the Black Dragon King’s freedom, but the Black Dragon King’s comments suggest a history of fear and conflict between Samlet and the Dragon race.

Chapter Summary: “San Long”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Black Dragon King reflects on Samlet’s decline. Once considered the greatest figure in a thousand years after the First Emperor, Samlet is now old, isolated, and burdened by the collapse of the Empire. His weakened condition suggests he may no longer be able to protect the Elf race—or uphold the agreement himself.
• Chen Cheng realizes that fulfilling the contract could earn him the friendship and protection of the Elves, which would be valuable for rebuilding his kingdom or securing a peaceful future. He also suspects the contract may provide him with unseen protection against deadly dangers.
• Chen Cheng teases the Black Dragon King about the contract, provoking him. The Black Dragon King angrily threatens revenge but is unable to harm Chen Cheng because of their agreement.
• In Hui Dun City, Wisdom Shield returns with his retainers, who begin studying the city’s industrial knowledge. He visits the entrance to the ancient road, learns more about its history, and acknowledges the soldiers guarding it.
• Wisdom Shield strengthens the site’s defenses by ordering the guards to attack unauthorized visitors, ensuring a regular supply of ammunition, and requiring them to undergo modern military training.
• He promotes the City Guard stationed there into his personal Crown Prince’s Guard. However, he warns them that they must become physically elite and master firearms and modern warfare before the promotion is truly secured.
• Wisdom Shield recognizes that artillery and gunpowder have transformed warfare. Traditional formations are no longer sufficient, so the Kingdom of Moss must rapidly modernize and equip its military.
• Meanwhile, a Lich and Coles move through a hidden cave. The Lich reveals that Zhu Yan and a Winged Tiger are searching the Nanmu Mountains for a dragon. He intends to exploit their efforts in order to destroy everyone in Hui Dun City.
• Coles encounters the dragon the Lich has brought there.
• The chapter then shifts to the dragon’s own account. San Long identifies himself as a third-generation descendant of the Dragon God Lineage, raised on Dragon Island under the strict laws of the former Empire.
• San Long became unusually law-abiding because members of his clan had previously been captured and executed for violating Imperial law. After leaving Dragon Island five hundred years earlier, he spent his savings purchasing a remote mountain peak, leaving him wealthy in property but poor in cash.
• Because he feared legal punishment and refused to rob or plunder, San Long lived quietly until a human discovered him. The human began trading with him, buying Dragon Blood for enormous sums. San Long now hopes to accumulate enough wealth to buy more property and eventually find a mate.
• The chapter ends with that human returning to San Long’s home, this time accompanied by a young human—apparently Coles and the Lich’s intended dragon connection.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng shows increased political awareness, recognizing the value of the Elf alliance and the hidden benefits of his contract. He remains confident and provocative toward the Black Dragon King.
• The Black Dragon King is revealed to be powerful but constrained by the contract. His anger and threats contrast with his inability to act against Chen Cheng.
• Samlet is portrayed as a declining legendary figure whose age and loneliness have left him unable to bear the burdens he once carried.
• Wisdom Shield demonstrates growing authority and strategic foresight. He takes direct responsibility for military reform, rewards loyal soldiers, and begins building an elite modern force.
• The City Guard commander is elevated from a low-status posting to a potentially prestigious role, though he and his men must prove themselves through training.
• The Lich reveals a manipulative and destructive plan: he intends to use the dragon hunt and the actions of Zhu Yan and the Winged Tiger to attack Hui Dun City.
• San Long is characterized as a humorous, cautious, law-abiding dragon whose greed, frugality, and naivety make him an unusual contrast to the dangerous dragons and villains around him.

Significant Themes

• Decline and burden: Samlet’s aging reflects the collapse of old powers and the difficulty of carrying an entire civilization alone.
• Contracts and political alliances: Agreements can create both restrictions and protection, shaping relationships between powerful beings.
• Modernization versus tradition: Wisdom Shield’s military reforms show how firearms and artillery are overturning established forms of warfare.
• Law and self-restraint: San Long’s obedience to Imperial law distinguishes him from more violent dragons, but also leaves him comically impoverished and vulnerable.
• Manipulation and hidden danger: The Lich’s plan suggests that apparent investigations and conflicts may be exploited to cause greater destruction.
• Wealth and survival: San Long’s attempts to monetize his blood reveal how economic knowledge and commerce can transform power into security.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and the Black Dragon King: Their hostile but legally constrained exchange highlights Chen Cheng’s confidence and the King’s frustration.
• Chen Cheng and Samlet: Though Samlet is not directly interacting with Chen Cheng in this passage, Chen Cheng interprets Samlet’s words as both a warning and an offer of future Elf protection.
• Wisdom Shield and the City Guard commander: Wisdom Shield rewards the commander but places demanding conditions on his promotion, establishing a mentor-and-subordinate relationship centered on military reform.
• The Lich and Coles: The Lich patronizes Coles as a “grandson,” while concealing a dangerous plan and mocking Coles’s lack of understanding.
• Coles and San Long: Their meeting is introduced as a major turning point, since Coles encounters the dragon connected to the Lich’s scheme.
• San Long and the unnamed human trader: Their commercial relationship allows San Long to profit from selling Dragon Blood, though San Long’s narration suggests he may underestimate the human’s motives.

Chapter Summary: “The Foolish Younger Brother”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Coles and the Lich, William Das, enter the cave of San Long, a gigantic real dragon far larger and stronger than the Black Dragon King.
• San Long recognizes that the Lich has acquired Divine Blood and discusses their long-standing transaction: information in exchange for gold.
• Coles is stunned by San Long’s enormous hoard of several million gold coins. When San Long notices his interest, he threatens him under the ancient imperial laws against robbery.
• The Lich explains that Coles was merely shocked by seeing so much wealth, and Coles quickly apologizes. San Long accepts the explanation because simply looking at the treasure is not a crime.
• San Long demonstrates his usual trade by extracting dragon flesh and Dragon Blood from himself. The Lich, however, says the normal payment is insufficient and produces Magic Crystals and Dragon Crystals stolen from the Black Dragon King.
• San Long recognizes the scent of his younger brother in the stolen treasures. He realizes that the Black Dragon King is likely in danger, although he can still sense that his brother remains alive.
• The Lich receives the requested Dragon Blood, apparently intending to use it against the Black Dragon King.
• After the visitors leave, San Long recalls how his younger brother once took responsibility for an agreement with the Empire that San Long had avoided. Though reluctant to risk his wealth through combat and possible imperial fines, San Long begins planning a way to help him.

Character Developments

• Coles is intimidated by San Long’s size and power, initially fearing that the old dragon will kill them. His fascination with the treasure nearly creates trouble, but he quickly adapts and learns to show proper caution.
• William Das, the Lich, remains composed and experienced. He understands San Long’s personality and uses the Black Dragon King’s treasures to obtain a much larger supply of Dragon Blood.
• San Long is revealed to be enormous and potentially terrifying but also unusually orderly, frugal, and law-abiding. Beneath his cautious, money-conscious nature, he is concerned about his younger brother and is willing to consider leaving his home to protect him.

Significant Themes

• Power restrained by law: San Long is extremely powerful, yet he bases his behavior on imperial law, even though the Empire has long disappeared.
• Wealth and discretion: San Long hides his fortune because openly displaying wealth can provoke envy, violence, and attacks from desperate or ambitious people.
• Family responsibility: Although San Long once avoided a dangerous imperial obligation and left it to his younger brother, he now feels compelled to help him.
• Practicality versus loyalty: San Long’s desire to protect his brother conflicts with his fear of fines, legal consequences, and losing the fortune he has spent centuries saving.
• Appearances versus reality: San Long initially appears violent and threatening, but he is actually disciplined and cautious; the Lich appears weak but is calculating and capable.

Character Interactions

• The Lich respectfully addresses San Long as the “Dragon God,” while San Long dismisses the flattery and insists that their relationship is merely a business transaction.
• San Long intimidates Coles when he notices his interest in the treasure, but the Lich and Coles placate him by emphasizing that Coles had no criminal intent.
• During the trade, San Long’s recognition of the Black Dragon King’s possessions silently changes the nature of the encounter: what appears to be an ordinary transaction reveals that his younger brother may be under attack.
• San Long does not confront the Lich directly. Instead, he completes the trade, watches the visitors leave, and begins devising a cautious plan to intervene.

Chapter Summary: “The Lich’s Conspiracy”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After leaving San Long’s home, the Lich reveals to Coles that San Long is a powerful but law-abiding Black Dragon whom he discovered by accident. Over several centuries, the Lich secretly conned him into selling Dragon Blood.
• The Lich explains his real plan: to blood-sacrifice everyone in Hui Dun City by luring the Beast Emperors—especially Zhu Yan—into attacking it. He intends to use the Black Dragon’s Dragon Blood to imitate the dragon’s aura, exploiting the Beast Emperors’ instinctive desire for dragon blood.
• Coles questions whether the Beast Emperors will be fooled or dare attack a human city, but the Lich believes the weakened human forces and lack of Imperial support will leave the Kingdom of Moss helpless.
• In the Moonlight Forest, the Black Dragon King is suffering from injuries and needs Moonflower Fruits. Chen Cheng suggests that he ask the Elves for them and trade Dragon Blood, flesh, and scales if necessary.
• The Black Dragon King becomes furious at the idea of begging the Elves or sacrificing parts of his body, unaware that his elder brother has been selling those same resources to the Lich for centuries.
• Chen Cheng is escorted by Zhulu and Elder Melos to meet the Elves. He notices that the carriage is powered by a spirit-like unicorn and realizes why it can travel at extraordinary speed.
• Melos gives Chen Cheng the carriage, revealed to be the artifact known as the Time Vehicle, as part of the agreement between him and the Elves. Chen Cheng initially suspects the gift is a bribe but accepts that he may need the artifact, since he is the only person capable of activating it.

Character Developments

• The Lich is revealed to be manipulative, opportunistic, and responsible for a large-scale plan to destroy Hui Dun City. His long-term exploitation of San Long demonstrates his patience and cunning.
• Coles shows skepticism toward the Lich’s strategy but is secretly pleased by the prospect of Hui Dun City’s destruction, suggesting hostility toward the city or its people.
• The Black Dragon King remains proud and short-tempered. His humiliation at being called a “contracted beast” intensifies his resentment toward Chen Cheng and the Elves.
• Chen Cheng becomes more composed and confident in the Moonlight Forest. He is also morally opposed to bribery and coercive negotiations, while taking greater responsibility for the Black Dragon King as his contracted companion.
• Elder Melos appears politically perceptive and careful in managing the agreement with Chen Cheng, reassuring him that the Time Vehicle is not an illicit bribe.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation and exploitation: The Lich uses San Long’s trust, Dragon Blood, and the Beast Emperors’ instincts to advance his destructive scheme.
• Political imbalance and vulnerability: The human Kingdom of Moss may be unable to resist the Beast Emperors without the Empire’s support.
• Pride and humiliation: The Black Dragon King’s anger reflects his unwillingness to accept dependence, contracts, or self-sacrifice.
• Agreements and hidden motives: Chen Cheng is wary of being manipulated through negotiations, while Melos emphasizes that the Time Vehicle is a legitimate part of their prior agreement.
• Power and bloodline: Dragon Blood is portrayed as immensely valuable and desirable to Magic Beasts, making it both a commodity and a weapon.

Character Interactions

• The Lich and Coles discuss the dragon’s identity and the plan to lure the Beast Emperors, with Coles challenging the practicality of the scheme.
• Chen Cheng advises the Black Dragon King to negotiate with the Elves, but the dragon reacts angrily, especially when Chen Cheng refers to him as a contracted beast.
• Chen Cheng interacts with Zhulu and Melos as he is escorted to the World Tree, showing his increasing familiarity with the Elven court.
• Melos reassures Chen Cheng that giving him the Time Vehicle fulfills the Elf-human agreement rather than serving as a bribe.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cheng accepts the Time Vehicle from Melos, explaining that their agreement feels destined and that he may need the vehicle later.
• Melos leads him, along with the Elven elders, to the World Tree’s trunk. The elders chant complex mathematical formulas, opening a passage inside the tree.
• The passage leads to a white, empty chamber that functions like a high-speed transport space. A door then opens into a vast, dark area beyond.
• Using a magical light, Melos reveals the Elves’ “Life Fruits”: biological fruit-shaped incubation pods containing nutrient fluid and power-supply umbilicals.
• Chen Cheng recognizes the Life Fruits as highly advanced biotechnology, remarkably similar to a Bio-Pod design he once created with Old Ke. He realizes the Elves’ supposed magic is actually sophisticated science.
• He becomes discouraged, knowing that his limited modern scientific knowledge is insufficient to repair or operate technology far beyond his understanding.
• Melos takes him through multiple abandoned Life Fruits to a large control console. Activating it summons a holographic projection of the Tree God.
• The Tree God identifies itself as an intelligent projection and proves that it knows Chen Cheng by replaying footage of his arrival and greeting with the World Tree.

Character developments

• Chen Cheng: His confidence collapses after discovering that the Elves’ technology is scientific rather than magical. He had imagined a dramatic, fantasy-style inheritance or power awakening connected to his ancestor, but instead faces a technical problem he may be unable to solve. Despite his anxiety, he promises to do everything he can.
• Melos: She continues to guide Chen Cheng respectfully and relies on him to fulfill his part of the agreement. Her nervous reaction to his hesitation shows how much she depends on his help.
• The Tree God: It is revealed to be an intelligent holographic projection rather than a physical divine presence. Its ability to recall Chen Cheng’s arrival establishes that it has been monitoring events.

Significant themes

• Science versus fantasy: The chapter humorously overturns Chen Cheng’s assumptions that the world’s mysteries are based on Western magic or Eastern cultivation. The truth is advanced biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
• The limits of knowledge: Chen Cheng is forced to confront the gap between his modern education and the civilization’s far more advanced science.
• Inherited burdens: Chen Cheng blames his ancestor for creating circumstances that have placed impossible expectations on him.
• Appearance versus reality: Objects called “Life Fruits” and beings called “Tree Gods” initially sound mystical, but are ultimately revealed to be technological creations.
• Destiny and agreements: Chen Cheng continues to suspect that the Time Vehicle and his involvement with the Elves are connected by a larger predetermined plan.

Character interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melos discuss the Time Vehicle and their agreement, with Melos trusting him to help despite his reservations.
• The Elven elders cooperate to activate the World Tree’s hidden passage through their mathematical chant.
• Melos guides Chen Cheng through the Life Fruit facility and becomes concerned when he freezes in shock.
• Chen Cheng interacts skeptically with the Tree God’s projection, testing whether it is truly tangible.
• The Tree God addresses Chen Cheng as “Your Majesty” and demonstrates its awareness of him by displaying a recording of his earlier arrival.

Summary of “World Tree’s Advice”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng examines the World Tree’s holographic projection and questions whether the enormous tree outside is its true body. He is particularly curious about how it can instantly monitor events across the vast Moonlight Forest despite the slow transmission of information through plant roots.
• The World Tree says it does not know how its own communication system works. Chen Cheng interprets this as evidence that the Tree is not a natural organism but a vast scientific machine controlled by artificial intelligence.
• Chen Cheng becomes suspicious that the World Tree may possess independent self-awareness and could potentially be seeking to end its original function of producing or sustaining the Elves. He privately considers the possibility of a machine uprising and tries to probe the Tree’s core programming.
• Detecting Chen Cheng’s rising heartbeat, blood circulation, and agitated Battle Aura, the projection attempts to calm him. It creates a chair from the ground and gives him a brown, fizzy drink containing medicine for his Consciousness Body.
• Chen Cheng compares the beverage to cola from his former life. The World Tree does not understand the reference and produces sparkling lemon water instead, which Chen Cheng rejects because it lacks the emotional familiarity of cola.
• The projection casually decomposes the unwanted drink through magic at the molecular level. This surprises Chen Cheng, who had been thinking of the World Tree in purely scientific terms. The Tree explains that magic is more environmentally friendly than chemical solvents for molecular decomposition.
• Seeing the potential usefulness of this technique, Chen Cheng asks to learn it so he can deal with pollution from the industrial development in Hui Dun City.
• After hearing about Chen Cheng’s factories and industrial plans, the World Tree gives him a serious warning: he should halt the industrial project and restore Hui Dun City to its former condition.
• When Chen Cheng asks for a detailed explanation, the projection begins to malfunction. It reveals that the reason is connected to its core and cannot be disclosed, leaving Chen Cheng with only the repeated instruction to stop industrialization.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng becomes increasingly suspicious and analytical. Rather than treating the World Tree as a magical deity, he views it as a sophisticated artificial intelligence and considers whether it might be autonomous or rebellious.
• His initial anxiety reveals his fear of losing control over powerful technology. However, he quickly returns to practical concerns, focusing on environmental protection and the needs of workers and investors involved in Hui Dun City’s industry.
• Chen Cheng also shows nostalgia for his former life through his attachment to cola, treating it as more than a beverage and as a symbol of familiar happiness.
• The World Tree’s projection displays advanced awareness, emotional interpretation, and practical magical abilities. It can monitor Chen Cheng’s physical condition, generate objects, manipulate matter, and provide medical assistance, but its access to its own core restrictions is limited.
• Melos remains mostly silent but is visibly astonished by Chen Cheng’s ability to communicate with the Tree God. This highlights how exceptional Chen Cheng’s relationship with the World Tree is compared with the Elves’ inability to understand it.

Significant Themes

• Science and magic are not opposites: The World Tree combines artificial intelligence, holographic technology, molecular manipulation, and magic, challenging Chen Cheng’s assumption that scientific systems must operate without magic.
• The limits of knowledge and control: Although the World Tree appears highly advanced, it does not fully understand its own mechanisms and is restricted from revealing core information. Chen Cheng likewise cannot determine whether it is benevolent, autonomous, or dangerous.
• Industrial progress versus environmental preservation: Chen Cheng wants industrialization to create jobs and advance society, but the World Tree warns that development may have catastrophic consequences. The chapter raises the question of whether progress should be slowed when its risks are not yet understood.
• Trust and secrecy: The World Tree offers useful assistance but refuses to explain why industry must stop. Its secrecy makes its advice difficult for Chen Cheng to accept and increases the mystery surrounding the Tree’s origins and purpose.
• Nostalgia and identity: Chen Cheng’s longing for cola reflects his continuing connection to his previous life and the emotional importance of familiar experiences in an alien world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng directly interrogates the World Tree about its body, information network, and possible underlying systems, treating it as both a powerful entity and a machine that might be analyzed or manipulated.
• The World Tree responds politely but evasively, calming Chen Cheng when it detects his fear and offering him a medicinal drink.
• Their conversation shifts from metaphysical questions to practical cooperation when Chen Cheng asks to learn the Tree’s decomposition magic for environmental cleanup.
• Chen Cheng presses the Tree for a justification behind its warning against industrialization, emphasizing his responsibility toward workers and investors.
• The World Tree cannot answer because of restrictions connected to its core, creating an unresolved conflict between Chen Cheng’s need for evidence and the Tree’s insistence that he stop.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng is shown the World Tree's vast biological cultivation base, with only 49 elves still in gestation out of hundreds.
• The World Tree's projection reveals it's an artificial intelligence designed by the God of Life, with a paradox lock preventing it from modifying its core code or causing a machine crisis.
• Chen Cheng experiences a divine realm vision, seeing the world as a vast net with trapped red dots.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates wisdom and caution, questioning the projection's intentions and understanding the complexities of the situation.
• Melos, the elf queen, shows joy at the prospect of solving the elf race's continuity issue.

Significant Themes

• The dangers and limitations of advanced artificial intelligence.
• The divine realm and its connection to the physical world.
• The mysterious goals of the Ancient Civilization and their connection to the elves and the World Tree.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts with the World Tree's projection, questioning its motives and learning about its design and limitations.
• Melos's reaction shows her hope for the elf race's future, hinting at her leadership and concern for her people.

Chapter Summary: “Life Equation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng learns to operate the ancient bioengineering system by placing his hand on its interface. The system identifies him as the administrator of the Forest Elf System.
• He attempts to connect it to his own Main System, but the connection fails, confirming that the Ancient Civilization’s systems are truly isolated and likely lost.
• Using the system’s backdoor, Chen Cheng gains access to the Elf cultivation files and asks the system to condense them for easier study.
• The condensed files contain a vast Life Equation, part of which Chen Cheng recognizes from his previous life, when he helped Old Ke derive a biological formula for a Bio-Pod.
• Chen Cheng spends more than half a month studying the equation. He realizes that its principles could potentially eliminate many terminal diseases and explain the origin of life, consciousness, longevity, and inherited biological traits.
• He discovers that the equation is actually a connected system of equations. Its input process contains accumulating redundancy, causing each operation to take progressively longer—possibly decades per command by the present era.
• Chen Cheng determines that the immediate problem can be temporarily fixed by archiving old work logs and resetting the system, though this would only restore its former efficiency rather than solve the deeper issue.
• He suspects that the Ancient Civilization deliberately altered the equation or the Elves’ biological design. The Elves’ female-only reproduction, extreme longevity, and deadly pregnancies appear to be connected to the equation’s energy and bloodline systems.
• Chen Cheng concludes that Elves die during childbirth because their powerful life energy creates an embryo with enormous energy requirements, which the mother cannot sustain. Bio-Pods may have been created to supply the energy needed for Elf development.
• He realizes the Elves could potentially be made into ordinary women by removing the parts of the equation responsible for longevity and powerful bloodline inheritance.
• This discovery causes Chen Cheng to become suspicious of the Ancient Civilization, which he had previously regarded as humanity’s savior.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng demonstrates increasing technical confidence as he learns to control an advanced system almost entirely through verbal commands.
• His scientific knowledge from his previous life allows him to recognize and partially interpret the Life Equation, giving him an unusual advantage over the ancient technology.
• His intense study reveals his perseverance and intellectual ambition; he becomes deeply absorbed in understanding the nature of life itself.
• Chen Cheng’s attitude toward the Ancient Civilization changes significantly. Instead of viewing it as wholly benevolent, he begins to suspect manipulation, hidden motives, and deliberate biological restrictions.
• He also begins to see himself as someone capable of correcting or redesigning the Elves’ biological foundation, though he recognizes that fully fulfilling his ancestor’s promise will require mastering the entire equation.

Significant Themes

• The nature and creation of life: The Life Equation explores how non-conscious matter develops into living beings with intelligence and awareness.
• Science versus divinity: The equation is described as “stealing the authority of gods,” but Chen Cheng interprets it scientifically as humanity uncovering the laws underlying creation.
• The limits of knowledge: Chen Cheng understands only portions of the equation, emphasizing the vast gap between his abilities and the achievements of the Ancient Civilization.
• Technological decay and preservation: The system’s accumulating input redundancy shows how even advanced civilizations can suffer from gradual technical degradation.
• Manipulation through biology: The Elves’ reproductive limitations suggest that their creators may have intentionally altered them for unknown purposes.
• Mistrust of supposed saviors: The chapter challenges the idea that the Ancient Civilization was purely heroic, raising the possibility that its “rescue” of the world came with exploitation or hidden costs.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts primarily with the Forest Elf System, which responds to his commands, identifies him as administrator, and provides access to the Elf cultivation files.
• His earlier collaboration with Old Ke is important because the formula they created in Chen Cheng’s previous life forms the beginning of the Life Equation, linking his past knowledge to the present discovery.
• Although no Elves appear directly in the chapter, Chen Cheng’s analysis of their reproductive system deepens his understanding of their suffering and the biological conditions imposed upon them.
• His relationship with his ancestor’s legacy also becomes more significant: mastering the equation is presented as necessary for fulfilling the ancestor’s promise, but the discovery forces Chen Cheng to question the civilization and ideals behind that legacy.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The facility’s projection warns Chen Cheng that he has gone seventeen days without rest and needs eight hours of sleep. Chen nevertheless continues investigating the Life Equation.
• Chen criticizes the creators of the Elf race for making natural reproduction nearly impossible, concluding that the elves may have been designed as biological weapons or experimental creations.
• The projection explains that the restrictions were not intentional but were imposed because the creators were running out of time and needed the world-saving plan to succeed. It also reveals that the elves can return to normal reproduction once the complete Life Equation is understood.
• Chen becomes suspicious of the facility and the mysterious speaker who seemed to know he would arrive. He questions whether he is trapped in a fabricated reality, such as “Truman’s World,” or inside a consciousness space.
• After testing the reality of the situation by striking himself, Chen remains unconvinced that his perceptions are genuine. The projection heals his injury and urges him to rest.
• Chen washes up, returns to the control console, and decides to test his theory that the system’s reproductive failure is caused by a corrupted or outdated data format.
• Using administrator access, he restarts the equation-input system. The broken cultivation pods dissolve and are replaced by functioning pods, while the system’s red error indicators fall to zero and green indicators rise.
• The improvement stops after only eighty pods become active, with merely thirty-one new elves added. The AI determines that the remaining problem is caused by the system’s work logs, whose access speed has reverted to the level of four hundred years ago.
• Because the work logs cannot be deleted, Chen realizes he may need another solution. He takes out the model of Melos’s Time Vehicle, suggesting that time manipulation may be the key to restoring the system.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Cheng shifts from admiration of the Life Equation to anger and moral condemnation of its creators. He sees the elves’ reproductive limitations as evidence of manipulation and exploitation.
• His distrust intensifies as he questions whether his surroundings and even his own sensations are real. This reveals his growing fear that he is being controlled or used by an unseen force.
• Despite his agitation, Chen remains analytical and resourceful. He apologizes to the projection, rests briefly, studies the equation, and successfully identifies the system restart as a possible solution.
• The projection/AI displays more emotional and flexible behavior when explaining the creators’ motives, but returns to its usual mechanical manner afterward. It remains loyal to Chen, healing him, guiding him to rest, and investigating the system failure.
• The mysterious original speaker remains unidentified, deepening the uncertainty surrounding Chen’s arrival and purpose.

3. Significant Themes

• Creation and moral responsibility: The Life Equation raises questions about whether creating life justifies imposing suffering, dependence, or reproductive restrictions on that life.
• Free will versus manipulation: Chen fears that both the elves and he himself are puppets controlled by hidden creators or systems.
• Reality and perception: The possibility of a simulated or consciousness-based world makes Chen question whether physical evidence, pain, and memory can be trusted.
• Science, technology, and time: The chapter presents life creation as a technological process while hinting that restoring the system may require manipulating time rather than simply repairing code.
• The consequences of desperate choices: The creators’ actions were motivated by an approaching catastrophe, suggesting that emergencies can lead to ethically troubling compromises.
• System failure and hidden history: The work logs preserve the effects of centuries-old operating conditions, showing how the past continues to constrain the present.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen confronts the projection about the ethics of the Life Equation and the treatment of the elves.
• The projection responds by explaining the creators’ lack of time and assures Chen that the elves’ reproductive abilities can eventually be restored.
• Chen attacks the projection to test whether it is real, but the projection remains unaffected and later heals him.
• The projection repeatedly encourages Chen to rest, while Chen insists on continuing his investigation.
• After Chen restarts the system, he asks the AI to diagnose the remaining malfunction. Its analysis identifies the work logs as the cause, leading Chen to consider using Melos’s Time Vehicle.

Chapter Summary: “The Threat of the God of Light”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng realizes that the carriage-like object he has been carrying is a Time Vehicle, or more specifically, a time-related module rather than a vehicle meant for ordinary travel.
• He places it on the console, which identifies it as a “Time module” connected to the Ancient Civilization’s Kindling Project. After Chen Cheng confirms, the object dissolves into light and integrates with the console.
• The discovery convinces Chen Cheng that the Elf cultivation project was only a subsidiary branch of the larger Kindling Project. He suspects the Ancient Civilization may have anticipated his arrival and deliberately incorporated him into its long-term plans.
• Chen Cheng theorizes that the Ancient Civilization may not have truly perished. Its advanced technology—including the Life Equation—could potentially allow its members to transfer their consciousness into newly created bodies and achieve rebirth.
• He also becomes increasingly suspicious that his ancestor from his first life was a survivor of the Ancient Civilization who understood its plans and helped advance them. Chen Cheng wonders whether the Time module was recovered by that ancestor and left with the Elves.
• Although he fears that activating the module might help revive the Ancient Civilization, Chen Cheng decides to proceed because the Elves are living beings with their own thoughts and deserve to survive. He also believes that, given the mysterious forces guiding him, he may eventually be forced to activate the technology regardless.
• Once activated, the Time module dramatically increases the console’s computational and cultivation capabilities, pushing the system to its current limit. However, instead of feeling relieved, Chen Cheng becomes more suspicious: if the solution were so simple, he wonders why his ancestor had not used it earlier.
• The chapter then shifts to a confrontation in space between the Moon Goddess, the World Tree, and the God of Light.
• The Moon Goddess and the World Tree appear to be secretly relying on Chen Cheng to solve the Elves’ crisis. The World Tree’s intelligence is weak, but it conveys that Chen Cheng’s involvement is essential.
• The God of Light arrives, claiming that protecting the world—including the Elves—is his responsibility. He warns that if the Elven problem is not solved, he will intervene.
• The Moon Goddess accuses the God of Light’s followers of interfering with the Elves and warns him to restrain them. The God of Light responds by threatening that if she cannot resolve the crisis within a century, she will no longer be allowed to exist.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes more aware of his connection to the Ancient Civilization and increasingly suspects that his life, reincarnations, and achievements may have been deliberately arranged. He demonstrates moral responsibility by activating the module to protect the Elves despite fearing its consequences. His curiosity is accompanied by growing anxiety and distrust.
• The Moon Goddess: Revealed to be secretly guiding events and cooperating with the World Tree to use Chen Cheng’s abilities. She is protective of the Elves and openly hostile toward the God of Light’s interference.
• The World Tree: Its intelligence appears diminished, yet it retains a powerful instinct that Chen Cheng must be exposed to the Ancient Civilization’s technology. It functions as an important but weakened force behind the plan.
• The God of Light: Emerges as a major threat and potential antagonist. He presents himself as a guardian of the world but is willing to eliminate the Moon Goddess if she fails, suggesting a rigid and authoritarian interpretation of duty.
• Chen Cheng’s ancestor: Though absent, becomes increasingly important through Chen Cheng’s speculation that he was a survivor or agent of the Ancient Civilization.

Significant Themes

• Technology versus divine power: The Time module and Ancient Civilization represent advanced science, while the surrounding world is governed by divine forces. The chapter suggests that science may be forbidden or impossible for ordinary beings, making Chen Cheng an exceptional anomaly.
• Manipulation and destiny: Chen Cheng questions whether his reincarnations and life experiences were engineered by the Ancient Civilization. His apparent “chosen one” status may be the result of a deliberate plan rather than coincidence.
• Moral responsibility: Chen Cheng must choose whether to activate technology that could potentially revive a dangerous civilization. He prioritizes the survival of the Elves, emphasizing the value of individual life even when a race was artificially created.
• Ancient civilizations and hidden legacies: The Ancient Civilization’s plans remain active despite its supposed destruction. Its technology, survivors, and objectives continue to shape the present.
• Conflict among divine powers: The Moon Goddess and God of Light both claim authority over the Elves and the world, but their opposing agendas reveal tension within the divine order.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts primarily with the console, which repeatedly prompts him to install and activate the Time module. This interaction highlights the system’s advanced, almost effortless handling of technology that Chen Cheng considers extraordinary.
• Chen Cheng mentally connects his own history to his ancestor’s possible relationship with the Ancient Civilization, deepening the mystery surrounding his identity.
• The Moon Goddess and World Tree discuss whether Chen Cheng’s involvement will lead to success, revealing that they have intentionally placed their hopes in him.
• The God of Light confronts the Moon Goddess, accusing her of secretly manipulating events and warning her that failure will result in her destruction.
• The Moon Goddess counters by accusing the God of Light’s followers of trespassing and interference, establishing an open power struggle over the Elves.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The God of Light attacks the void after detecting an intruding god from beyond the realm. His punch tears the void apart, and he pursues the fleeing thief, vowing to deal with Moon Goddess and the World Tree later.
• Moon Goddess protects the World Tree’s fragile consciousness and realizes how dangerous the intruder would have been if he had entered through the breach. She also recognizes that her weakening Faith limits her ability to perceive such threats.
• In the Present World, Chen Cheng questions why the First Ancestor did not resolve the system’s instability a thousand years earlier.
• The system’s artificial intelligence explains that the First Ancestor lacked administrator authority, but delayed the system’s collapse by installing external devices created through the Kindling Project, including the Time Vehicle.
• Chen Cheng backs up the Life Equation onto analytical glasses. After connecting them to the system, he gains administrator privileges and accesses the Life Equation’s evolution-simulation function.
• The simulation projects Chen Cheng’s cultivation using his Warrior method. He safely reaches the peak of Gold Rank, confirming that his cultivation method is sound and complete.
• However, the simulation ends when his Consciousness Body injury and corrupted Faith erupt as he approaches Platinum Rank, revealing these issues as fatal obstacles.
• Chen Cheng learns that the Life Equation can simulate future evolutionary and cultivation outcomes, but the system cannot be accessed once he leaves the Moonlight Forest.

Character Developments

• God of Light is shown to be highly vigilant and overwhelmingly powerful. He immediately identifies the hidden intruder and prioritizes eliminating the threat.
• Moon Goddess becomes aware of her own limitations. Her weakened Faith prevents her from detecting the enemy, while her concern for the World Tree and longing for Chen Cheng reveal her emotional vulnerability.
• Chen Cheng becomes more proactive and analytical. Rather than blindly trusting the system, he investigates the First Ancestor’s actions, preserves the Life Equation, and uses the simulation to assess his own cultivation.
• Chen Cheng gains confidence in his Warrior method but also confronts the seriousness of his Consciousness Body damage and corrupted Faith. He now understands that reaching Platinum Rank without solving these problems could kill him.
• The First Ancestor is revealed to have prepared for the system’s instability indirectly, using external devices to delay its collapse until Chen Cheng could appear.

Significant Themes

• Preparation across generations: The First Ancestor could not solve the system’s fundamental problem but created tools to preserve it until a future administrator emerged.
• Limits of power and knowledge: Even powerful figures such as Moon Goddess can fail when their Faith is insufficient, while Chen Cheng must rely on analysis and simulation to uncover hidden dangers.
• Foreknowledge and evolution: The Life Equation represents the ability to predict and optimize growth, giving Chen Cheng a major advantage while also exposing the consequences of unresolved flaws.
• Inheritance and responsibility: Chen Cheng inherits both the First Ancestor’s unfinished work and the dangers embedded in the system, making him responsible for completing what his predecessor could only delay.
• Vulnerability beneath strength: Although Chen Cheng’s cultivation method is safe and effective, internal damage and corrupted Faith remain more dangerous than weaknesses in the technique itself.

Character Interactions

• The God of Light confronts and pursues the hidden foreign god, while Moon Goddess remains behind to defend the World Tree.
• Moon Goddess reflects on her inability to detect the intruder and wonders when Chen Cheng will return.
• Chen Cheng repeatedly questions the system’s projection about the First Ancestor, the external devices, and the Life Equation.
• The projection provides technical explanations and assists Chen Cheng in backing up and connecting to the system, though it cannot restore access to the simulation outside the Moonlight Forest.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng learns that his glasses can't handle the Life Equation due to size constraints of system cores.
• The projection imports all its stored magic knowledge into Chen Cheng's glasses.
• Chen Cheng asks if his ancestor was a failed experiment before leaving.
• The projection and the Moon God discuss the plan's potential failure and the Divine Court's involvement.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng shows determination to comprehend the Life Equation and help the elf race.
• The projection reveals its sentience and discusses the plan's uncertainty.
• The Moon God expresses concern about the plan's failure and the Divine Court's involvement.

Significant Themes

• The intersection of science and magic.
• The uncertainty and potential failure of the plan.
• The Divine Court's involvement and the Buddha's infiltration.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts with the projection, learning about the glasses' limitations and receiving magic knowledge.
• The projection and the Moon God discuss the plan's potential failure, the Divine Court, and the Buddha's infiltration.
• The Moon God refuses to cast a hexagram due to its influence on the future.

Summary of “Divine Artifact Laws”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Moon Goddess and the projection conclude their discussion. The projection’s spirit reaches its limit and fades, while the Moon Goddess’s phantom also disappears.
• Melos meets Chen Cheng beneath the World Tree. Chen explains that he can only partially solve the Elves’ reproductive problem for now, but his work should restore their population growth to the level it had reached a thousand years earlier.
• Melos accepts this result as a source of hope and formally pledges the Elven race’s allegiance to Chen Cheng.
• Chen performs a symbolic allegiance ceremony with the Sword of Kings, but emphasizes that his promise applies only during his lifetime. Unlike his ancestor, he refuses to make an eternal or deceptive promise, instead sincerely vowing to solve the Elves’ problem before he dies.
• Exhausted after more than half a month without proper rest, Chen asks Melos to return him home. He goes to sleep after examining the Sword of Kings.
• Chen realizes that the markings covering the sword are not ordinary Magic Runes but divine or Rule Markings. Their abundance suggests that the sword is an exceptionally powerful artifact, possibly the greatest beneath the heavens.
• He suspects the sword’s governing rule is connected to combat, since wielding it causes battle intent to merge with the wielder’s spirit.
• Chen also reflects on the Elves’ affinity for Nature Magic and healing, connecting their abilities to the Life Rule that may have created or influenced their bloodline.
• In a dream or memory, Chen witnesses the Apollo Project’s 103rd verification experiment fail at the final stage: data transmission reaches ninety-five percent before collapsing.
• Researchers debate whether the experiment itself is flawed or whether the transmission system is overloaded. The youngest researcher proposes using high-strength materials derived from Divine Bodies, though this suggestion is politically and emotionally sensitive because the chief engineer despises the gods.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng demonstrates growing responsibility and sincerity. He accepts the Elves’ allegiance but avoids exploiting their trust, distinguishing himself from his ancestor by making a limited, honest promise.
• His exhaustion highlights the personal cost of his research and his determination to solve the Elves’ crisis.
• Chen’s understanding of the Sword of Kings deepens. He begins to recognize its connection to divine laws and combat, suggesting future discoveries about its origin and power.
• Melos moves from cautious dependence on Chen’s assistance to openly committing the entire Elven race to his service. Her allegiance reflects both gratitude and renewed hope.
• The chief engineer is introduced as a traumatized survivor who has lost his family to divine beings. His hatred of the gods conflicts with the practical possibility that Divine Bodies may provide the materials necessary to complete the Apollo Project.
• The youngest researcher emerges as a bold and rational voice, willing to challenge established assumptions and suggest an unconventional solution.

Significant Themes

• Trust and historical betrayal: Chen is aware that his ancestor deceived the Elves, so he deliberately avoids grand promises and seeks to rebuild trust through honesty.
• Responsibility and sacrifice: Chen’s relentless work shows his willingness to endanger his health for the survival of another race.
• Divine laws and artifacts: The chapter expands the mythology of Rule Markings and suggests that powerful artifacts embody or are shaped by specific cosmic laws.
• Science versus the divine: The Apollo Project’s technological research depends on materials taken from Divine Bodies, blurring the boundary between scientific advancement and the exploitation of gods.
• Hope amid incomplete solutions: Though Chen cannot yet solve the Elves’ problem completely, partial progress gives them time, survival, and the possibility of a better future.
• Trauma and prejudice: The chief engineer’s hatred of the gods is rooted in personal loss, creating tension between emotional vengeance and scientific necessity.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Melos: Their exchange establishes a relationship based on gratitude, allegiance, and cautious trust. Melos pledges obedience, while Chen responds with a sincere but carefully limited promise.
• Chen Cheng and his ancestor’s legacy: Chen internally compares his conduct with that of his ancestor, showing his desire to break from the older ruler’s deception.
• Chen Cheng and the Sword of Kings: His examination of the sword becomes a moment of discovery, linking the artifact to divine rules and combat.
• The Apollo researchers and the chief engineer: The researchers hesitate to challenge their leader, aware of his exhaustion and deep hostility toward gods.
• The youngest researcher and the chief engineer: The younger scientist proposes using Divine Body materials, directly confronting the chief engineer’s ideology and opening a possible path toward solving the transmission problem.

Summary: “Heading to Kepler Base”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After a previous failure, Chief Engineer Ji Weiming orders researcher Fei Peng (Xiaopeng) to file the application for another experiment.
• During the Apollo Project’s 104th verification experiment, an elderly, respected observer visits the laboratory. The team successfully completes the data transmission and system self-check, achieving a major breakthrough.
• The old man praises Ji Weiming for turning theory into reality. Ji, however, worries whether the researchers will truly be able to return to their homeland once the larger project begins. The old man reassures him that they will return.
• Chen Cheng observes the experiment from within a dreamlike state. He cannot interact with anyone and sees experimental data only as blankness.
• Over many days, Chen watches the researchers conduct repeated experiments. He notices that they are aging unnaturally quickly, apparently because they are repeatedly using time acceleration.
• Fei Peng warns Ji that this process is damaging their minds. Ji explains that Kepler has reported less than a year remaining, so they must compress centuries or millennia of work into a short period, regardless of the physical and mental cost.
• Jiang Qing complains that the various bases are working separately on magic integration, slowing progress. Ji refuses to demand that other groups abandon their own work, arguing that their research may still benefit future descendants if the current plan fails.
• Ji reveals that the preliminary goals of the Kindling Project are nearly complete. The team will soon leave for Kepler Base to participate in the final experiment.
• Chen recognizes Jiang Qing as the same woman he previously saw at the Ancient Ruins in Nanmu Forest. This confirms that the researchers connected to the Apollo and Kindling Projects eventually reached Kepler and conducted the final Kindling experiment.

Character Developments

• Ji Weiming: Demonstrates exceptional dedication and leadership. Though celebrated for the experiment’s success, he is concerned less with fame than with whether the team can return home. He willingly sacrifices his health and mental stability to meet the project’s deadline, while also showing responsibility toward other research groups and future generations.
• Fei Peng: Emerges as an important technical contributor after proposing the wiring change that helps produce the successful experiment. He also shows concern for Ji’s deteriorating condition.
• Jiang Qing: Acts as a practical and outspoken researcher, questioning the division of labor among the bases. Her identity links the laboratory’s researchers to the Ancient Ruins and Kepler Base seen elsewhere in Chen’s investigations.
• The elderly observer: Represents the project’s authority and significance. His emotional reaction and reassurance reinforce the importance of Ji’s achievement.
• Chen Cheng: Gains crucial evidence about the origins of the researchers and the connection between Earth, the Apollo Project, Kepler, and the Kindling Project. His uncertainty deepens as he tries to reconcile their technology with the capabilities of the Ancient Civilization.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice for scientific progress: The researchers knowingly accelerate their aging and risk mental collapse to complete their work before time runs out.
• Hope and perseverance: Despite repeated failures, exhaustion, and the possibility that the plan may fail, the team continues working toward returning to their homeland.
• Responsibility to future generations: Ji believes their work should continue even if they cannot succeed, leaving knowledge and hope for descendants millions of years later.
• The limits and contradictions of knowledge: Chen struggles to understand how a civilization capable of advanced spatial manipulation could still be unable to return home, suggesting hidden limitations or mysteries surrounding the world.
• Connection between past, present, and future: The Apollo Project’s name, the Kepler Ruins, the Crystal Book, and the Kindling Project gradually reveal a long chain of events linking Chen’s discoveries to the researchers’ ancient mission.

Character Interactions

• Ji gives Fei permission to submit another application after the previous failure.
• The elderly man congratulates Ji after the successful experiment, while Ji confides his fear that the researchers may not return.
• Fei confronts Ji about the dangers of time acceleration, but Ji insists that the deadline leaves them no alternative.
• Jiang Qing challenges the project’s fragmented structure, suggesting that cooperation among the bases could speed up the final experiment.
• Ji responds by defending the need for independent work and reassuring the team that the Formation-Control Array has already accounted for the possibility of failure.
• Chen remains an invisible observer, gradually identifying Jiang Qing and connecting the laboratory’s events to the Kepler records and the Ancient Ruins.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The laboratory begins disassembling the Divine Artifact modules from the central control machine.
• Chen Cheng observes the modules transforming into strange objects upon removal, similar to his Time Vehicle.
• The researchers wear special research suits that form Divine Markings, revealing they're wearing Divine Artifacts.
• The final ignition key, a sword (Sword of Kings), is removed with difficulty due to low energy in Fei Peng's research suit.
• Jiang Qing and Fei Peng discuss Fei Peng's desire to join Kepler's guard team instead of continuing research.
• The main unit, after disassembly, transforms into the damaged host machine Chen Cheng saw earlier.
• A squad of God Slayer combatants arrives, and Fei Peng hands over the Sword of Kings. They seal it using a spatial lockdown field.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng realizes the researchers' research suits are Divine Artifacts and is stunned by the revelation.
• Fei Peng expresses his desire to join Kepler's guard team, showing dissatisfaction with his research role.
• Jiang Qing, despite disapproving of Fei Peng's decision, agrees to support him and advises him about the Sword of Kings' influence.

Significant Themes

• Preparation for Crisis: The evacuation and disassembly of the Divine Artifacts suggest an impending crisis or threat.
• Role Transition: Fei Peng's desire to switch from research to combat highlights the theme of personal growth and change.
• Power and Responsibility: The handling of the Sword of Kings emphasizes the responsibility that comes with power.

Character Interactions

• Jiang Qing and Fei Peng: Jiang Qing scolds Fei Peng for his reckless actions but ultimately supports his decision to join Kepler's guard team.
• Chen Cheng and the Researchers: Chen Cheng observes the researchers' actions without interacting with them directly.
• Ji Weiming and the God Slayer Squad: Ji Weiming hands over the Sword of Kings to the God Slayer squad, indicating a formal handover of responsibility.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Weiming, the chief engineer, hands over the research results to the team captain and asks them to return to the main branch if needed.
• Chen Cheng remains trapped in a dream after everyone leaves, unable to wake up.
• A mysterious voice calls out to Chen Cheng, revealing that he has transmigrated from the 21st century and is the exiled emperor of a fallen empire.
• The voice warns Chen Cheng not to forget the Sword of Kings, which can grant immense power but is also dangerous.
• Chen Cheng wakes up and suspects that his dreams might be his sealed memories from his past life as a ghost.
• He theorizes that he drifted to this world as a ghost, witnessed the aging of his past life's acquaintances, and was then conceived in Queen Sophia's womb.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Realizes his true identity as a transmigrant and begins to understand the nature of his dreams. He starts to accept his past life's memories and the Sword of Kings' importance.
• Ji Weiming: Shows responsibility and dedication to his work by ensuring the research results are safely handed over.

Significant Themes

• Identity: Chen Cheng grapples with his identity as a transmigrant and the memories from his past life.
• Power and Danger: The Sword of Kings represents immense power but also the danger of losing oneself to it.
• Memory and Truth: Chen Cheng struggles to understand the truth behind his dreams and the nature of his memories.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts with the mysterious voice in his dream, trying to understand his past and the voice's intentions.
• Ji Weiming interacts with the team captain, ensuring the research results are safely handed over.

Chapter Summary: “Exquisite Forging Technique”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng examines a powerful divine sword bearing mysterious runes. Because he previously stained it with blood, he senses a connection to the weapon and feels its intense desire for slaughter.
• Rather than immediately putting the sword away, Chen Cheng deliberately resists its murderous influence. He discovers that this confrontation strengthens and sharpens his mental power, especially noticeable because his Consciousness Body is still recovering from severe injuries.
• After pushing himself for a while, Chen Cheng stops the cultivation session, exhausted but mentally more alert.
• Fisili visits him and presents the improved version of the Phoenix One firearm, redesigned by herself and the “Big Sister Head.”
• Chen Cheng dismantles and studies the weapon, discovering that its components contain extremely thin, double-layered rune engravings with isolation layers between them. This greatly expands the rune area without increasing the weapon’s size or changing its overall structure.
• Impressed by the design, Chen Cheng praises the work as “exquisite craftsmanship,” but declines Fisili’s implicit invitation to study forging deeply, explaining that his larger goals leave him little time for auxiliary disciplines.
• Chen Cheng comforts the disappointed Fisili by suggesting that she travel with him after completing her coming-of-age ceremony.
• Melos arrives and misinterprets—or teasingly interprets—their embrace and conversation as a romantic confession. Fisili becomes embarrassed but firmly announces that she has decided to leave with Chen Cheng.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Advances his mental cultivation by resisting the divine sword’s consciousness-eroding slaughter intent. He becomes more cautious and perceptive, while remaining focused on his broader goal of restoring his country and preparing for the Ancient Civilization. He also shows increasing tenderness toward Fisili.
• Fisili: Demonstrates impressive technical ability through her sophisticated improvements to the Phoenix One. Emotionally, she becomes more open about her attachment to Chen Cheng and chooses to accompany him on his journey, despite her embarrassment.
• Melos: Continues to act as an observant and teasing elder figure, quickly recognizing the romantic tension between Chen Cheng and Fisili.

Significant Themes

• Mental strength through adversity: Chen Cheng’s resistance to the divine sword reflects the idea that confronting dangerous pressures can strengthen the mind, much like warriors build resilience through physical pain.
• Power and danger: The divine sword is both a symbol of imperial authority and a potentially corrupting weapon. Its power offers benefits but demands caution and self-control.
• Craftsmanship versus greater ambitions: Fisili’s forging talent is celebrated, but Chen Cheng recognizes that mastering such an art would conflict with his larger political and survival-oriented objectives.
• Travel and emotional commitment: Fisili’s decision to accompany Chen Cheng represents both the beginning of a physical journey and a deepening personal bond between them.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng interacts with the divine sword in a mental struggle, using its murderous intent as an unconventional method of cultivation.
• Fisili eagerly presents her improved weapon, hoping Chen Cheng will admire it and perhaps remain to study forging with her.
• Chen Cheng praises her work but declines to become a dedicated student, causing her brief disappointment.
• He then embraces and reassures her, inviting her to travel with him.
• Melos interrupts the intimate moment with teasing remarks, while Fisili defends Chen Cheng and confirms her decision to leave with him.

Chapter Summary: “A Thunderbolt Over His Head”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fisili reacts indignantly when Elder Melos suggests she might get lost or require guidance, proudly mentioning that she was the oldest Elf to complete the coming-of-age ceremony. She soon realizes this is not an achievement among Elves and becomes embarrassed.
• Melos tells Fisili to return home, wash, dress properly, and prepare for the evening banquet. Fisili stores Phoenix One and disappears in a puff of smoke.
• Melos invites Chen Cheng to the banquet, declaring that the event will mark the rebirth day of the Elf race. Chen Cheng agrees to attend.
• That evening, Samlet and She Li visit Chen Cheng. Samlet examines a Mithril Magic Array Chen Cheng created to dissipate heat underground. The array can handle energy up to approximately the middle stage of Platinum Rank before overloading and possibly exploding.
• Samlet realizes that Chen Cheng has advanced from the early stage of Gold Rank to the peak of Gold Rank in only half a month.
• Despite this rapid progress, Chen Cheng is not pleased. He believes his advancement may have been caused by residual Divine Power from his projection within the World Tree, which could worsen the Faith Contamination in his Consciousness Body.
• Chen Cheng explains that this contamination prevents him from safely advancing along either his magical or warrior path. Although he is close to forming his own domain and reaching Platinum Rank, attempting to break through while injured could result in disaster.
• Chen Cheng reassures Samlet that the Moon Goddess has given him a revelation and that he should have a method of treating the problem after they leave. Samlet vows to obtain whatever Chen Cheng needs, even at the cost of his life.

Character Developments

• Fisili remains proud and outspoken, but her boast about her late coming-of-age ceremony reveals her social awkwardness and lack of self-awareness. Her embarrassment makes her more human and endearing.
• Melos acts as both a dignified Elder and a gently teasing mentor toward Fisili. She also formally acknowledges Chen Cheng’s importance by inviting him to the Elf race’s rebirth celebration.
• Chen Cheng demonstrates extraordinary magical insight by adapting part of a standard Magic Array into a heat-dissipation system. However, his advancement brings anxiety rather than joy because of the danger posed by his contaminated Consciousness Body.
• Samlet shifts from admiration of Chen Cheng’s progress to concern over his hidden injury. His loyalty becomes especially clear when he promises to risk his life to help Chen Cheng recover.
• She Li accompanies Samlet to the meeting but does not play a major active role in the chapter.

Significant Themes

• Power accompanied by danger: Chen Cheng’s rapid advancement appears fortunate, but it may actually be the consequence of dangerous residual Divine Power.
• The limits of advancement: Talent and understanding alone cannot guarantee progress; unresolved spiritual or mental injuries can block both cultivation paths.
• Innovation through different perspectives: Chen Cheng’s unusual understanding of magic allows him to reinvent an existing array for a new purpose.
• Loyalty and mutual support: Samlet’s willingness to sacrifice himself contrasts with Chen Cheng’s need to reassure and comfort him despite being the one in danger.
• Rebirth and renewal: The Elf banquet symbolizes the race’s recovery and future, while Chen Cheng’s own possible breakthrough is overshadowed by the need to heal first.

Important Character Interactions

• Fisili and Melos: Melos gently mocks Fisili’s boast, while Fisili reacts with embarrassment and reluctant obedience.
• Melos and Chen Cheng: Melos respectfully invites Chen Cheng to the Elf race’s rebirth banquet, reinforcing their political and personal alliance.
• Samlet and Chen Cheng: Samlet praises Chen Cheng’s magical invention and cultivation progress, but Chen Cheng explains the hidden threat behind his advancement. Samlet then offers unwavering assistance.
• Chen Cheng and his own projection/Divine Power: Though not a direct conversation, Chen Cheng reflects on how the World Tree projection may have accelerated his cultivation while worsening the danger in his Consciousness Body.